-Frontline Former psephologist Yogendra Yadav, now a member of the political collective Swaraj Abhiyan, recently toured India’s drought-affected districts. He called it a Samvedna Yatra. During the tour, he took note of the agony in rural areas affected by what he calls “one of the worst droughts in independent India” The drought, according to him, has left farmers and the larger rural community in extreme distress, leading to damaging changes in...
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Drought insulation -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express Total foodgrain production in 2015-16 is expected at 253.16 million tonnes (mt), according to the Agriculture Ministry’s second advance estimates. India’s agricultural output hasn’t taken as much a hit from back-to-back droughts this time round as with previous monsoon failure episodes. Total foodgrain production in 2015-16 is expected at 253.16 million tonnes (mt), according to the Agriculture Ministry’s second advance estimates. This is only 4.5 per cent below the...
More »Wheat output seen rising a little over 7 mt in FY16
-Business Standard Govt procurement target fixed at 30 mt in 2016-17, a bit more than in ongoing season; rice buying would be 35 mt Despite rough weather, wheat output would rise a little over seven million tonnes (mt) in 2015-16, enabling an increase in overall foodgrain production of one mt over the previous year, official advance estimates showed on Monday. Production of wheat is estimated at 94 mt, from 86 mt in 2014-15....
More »Growth data send conflicting signals
-The Hindu The latest GDP data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) raise more questions than they answer. While on the face of it, the projection of 7.6 per cent growth at constant prices for the fiscal year ending March 31 sounds both attainable and impressive, a closer look at the other sets of numbers, including the third-quarter reading, raises some flags. The pace of economic expansion is estimated to...
More »End of crop loan subsidy likely to heighten defaults, banks say -Namrata Acharya
-Business Standard But RBI data suggest that by replacing interest subsidy with crop insurance, government can use about Rs 12,500 cr to facilitate crop insurance scheme If a recent recommendation of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on crop loan subsidy is approved by the government, agricultural loans are set to become as costly as home loans or car loans. RBI has suggested interest subvention on crop loans should be phased out,...
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